


An Alien Difference

by Angelicat2



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Body Horror, Galra Keith (Voltron), Human Experimentation, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Whump, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Kidnapping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro feels guilty, Sick Keith (Voltron), Team as Family, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-11 06:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20541614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: The Black Paladin of Voltron was the one they were after.Instead, they accidentally caught the Red Paladin.Upon Keith's rescue, the team learns that they haven't been treating Keith's body that way it needs to be.





	1. The Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting around in my files for a while so I thought I'd post it finally.
> 
> Enjoy.

"Target sighted."

"Stay low. Tell me when he gets in sight to unleash our trap."

"Uh...Isn't the Champion supposed to be...bigger?"

"Legends. Just set the trap off already."

"Alright."

A loud bang followed by a sharp cry of pain was all that greeted the air.

"Target acquired. On our way out now."

"Very good."

.....

Shiro wasn't sure how to feel about these diplomatic meetings. It was similar to events that he had gone to in the past, back at the Garrison. Big parties to appease people. Bigger smiles for the crowds. Everything to make agreements go off without a hitch. 

He wasn't the best at diplomatic work. That was Allura's job, so he stood to the side, only nodding here and there every so often. The rest of the paladins were bored. All of them were in their armor, as a sign of their position in Voltron. Shiro could see that they were so close to ditching the princess, and Shiro couldn't blame them. He was also bored.

So it came as a surprise when a tray was spilled all over Keith from a passing server, who promptly let out a cry of anguish, clearly an accident. Shiro watched as Keith waved her off, understanding the problem as he walked up to the older man.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," the younger nodded before shaking his arms, ebony oily liquid splattering onto the pristine floor, "Just gotta clean up."

"Want any help?" Shiro asked worriedly as he walked with Keith to the door, "That looks...sticky."

"I'm fine," Keith sighed before his dark eyes glanced at him, "But thanks, Shiro. I'll be right back."

"I'll be waiting," Shiro sent him a fond grin back as he watched the other slip out the door. It gently closed shut. Shiro crossed his arms, unsure what to do. He didn't want to go back to the group, but it felt rude to just stand there like a guard or something. But something felt off, and Shiro always trusted these feelings ever since they were captured by the Galra. Shaking his head, he just turned to go back to the group when a loud bang echoed around the room. A very familiar shout of pain raced through the air, coming from the doorway.

"Keith!" The scream left his throat without his consent before he dashed away from the room. The others ran right behind him, and he was aware of the swish of Allura's dress. Tearing open the door, he barely got a glimpse of something blurring off in the distance. 

A small puddle of oily liquid was slowly spreading on the floor. Some had been smeared out, as if in a struggle. As Shiro got closer, he could smell the electricity in the air, and he instantly knew what had happened.

"He's gone," someone whispered in the background, but Shiro was feeling numb, too stuck in the feeling of lightning running through his veins. Haggar's dark lightning was nothing good, and Shiro knew she couldn't be here at the moment. So...

"Keith's been kidnapped."

.....

Keith groaned as he woke up. His head felt like it wanted to cave in on itself. His muscles hurt badly enough that he was wondering if he had been up all night fighting the gladiator. His mouth felt dry as could be, like he'd been dehydrated quickly. As he struggled to open his eyes, he remembered some of what had happened.

A drink had been spilt all over him earlier. He had decided to clean it off in the bathroom he had seen on the way in. He had just stepped out when something clamped down on his neck before an arch of agony ran down his spine. He didn't remember anything after that.

Actually, Keith could still feel whatever had been put on his neck. Felt kind of like a thick necklace or a...collar. He started to pull his hand up to touch it when a shock almost made him yelp. Dropping his appendage as his arm muscles spasmed, he took in the room.

It was plain and white. Nothing decorative about and only a few places with glass windows. Glancing to the side, he saw equipment that he had no idea what any of it was for.

Glancing down, he nearly froze. He was on a table, stripped of his armor. The black under suit was still on, and purple bracelets covered his hands and feet. The more he looked, the more he could see other bands there too, like one on his waist.

The door opened...or rather, dissolved away as three of the aliens from the planet marched up to him. He could tell right away that they weren't exactly part of the group from earlier. 

"Red Paladin of Voltron," the leader greeted with a wicked frown, "Tell us, where do we find the Champion?"

"Shiro?" Keith asked as his stomach fell, "What do you want with Shiro?"

"We were trying to capture him," the alien went on, "But caught you on accident. We assumed you were him, but we are well aware now that you aren't. So give up the Champion's location and we'll let you free."

"No," Keith nearly hissed as he glared them down, "I'm not telling you anything."

"Hm..." the man frowned deeper as he ran a hand over his jaw, "Looks like it's plan B. We know what you are."

Keith actually froze this time. How...

"We are well aware you are not fully the species the Champion is. Human," the alien said it like it was an insult, "And we have an idea what your other half is. And we welcome this opportunity to take down our enemies. With you, we'll figure out the Galra's weaknesses."

"What?" Keith wheezed as the air in his lungs refused to leave or enter.

"Time to begin the experiments," the man laughed as Keith's eyes widened in fear, "And to lore the Champion to us. He'll never be able to resist helping a fellow paladin."

Keith panicked as he automatically tried to rip the collar off. A painful shock ran through both arms as he fought. A minute later, he dropped both arms, in too much pain to fight anymore. And that's exactly what they wanted all along.

As soon as he quit fighting, the two other aliens swooped in, carrying the equipment to his sides. He couldn't move, electricity still making his muscles jump and jerk a bit. One peeled out a needle and syringe, the other some cutting equipment. Keith barely smothered his shocked gasp when he saw a few different knives. They were going to do it.

Something sharp stung his arm, not feeling like what had happened with the collar. Glancing to the left, he saw them carefully filling the syringe up with his blood.

"Hmmm..." The lead alien raised a thin brow, "Unusual. Scarlet blood. No wonder these humans are so behind. Why ours is silver, much better at transporting those nutrients than this, I assume."

Keith glared at the man.

"And Galra blood," the man chuckled in a way that made Keith shiver, "Is purple. You must take after the human side quite a bit."

Keith just continued to glare at the alien. These guys were crazy, and he had nothing to say that would change their minds. The one assistant pulled back when the needle collected all it could and put a small patch on the puncture spot to stop the bleeding. Seconds later, they were manhandling him to get the suit down. Keith fought them at first, but soon stopped as more electricity lit up under his skin. He went limp, and the bands didn't activate as long as the aliens were moving him. Once they got the suit down to his hips, they let go of him.

"This will advance our knowledge against the Galra," the man chuckled again, hand grabbing some tools as Keith practically growled, "And the Champion will lead them here to be destroyed. All thanks to you, Red Paladin."

With that, he raised a scalpel.

.....

Shiro glared at the screen. It had already been a week. A whole week since Keith had been kidnapped from them. There had been no clue as to who took him nor any messages telling them he was being held hostage. The locals were helping them, feeling it may have been their fault.

Shiro held no blame on them. He believed they were telling the truth, but he didn't know if they were all one group. If...

"Paladins of Voltron," the one spoke up as they all stood there, "I believe we have found your friend. However, you will have to sneak in while we distract them."

"'Them?'"

"We were not aware that some of our people felt so strongly against Voltron," the council members each nodded to them on the screen, "A rebel faction has grown in the flames of Voltron's battle here. We are very sure your Red Paladin is inside."

"Alright," Shiro nodded as he glanced at each of his teammates, "Here's what we are going to do..."

.....

It took a few hours, but they set up a plan. The locals were going to distract the rebels by asking to speak with them under the pretense of wishing to get rid of Voltron. The rest of them would go in and get Keith away from there. The Castle of Lions would stay back in the atmosphere so the rebels would think Voltron was in one place while the Green and Black lions brought them down to the facility the rebels were using.

Shiro was tense, ready for a fight at any moment. When Pidge hacked into the third hallway, he knew something was off. They hadn't run into anyone on the way in yet. No guards, no sentries, no...anybody. The dark brown halls felt utterly empty of life.

"Well..." Lance glanced around as his voice echoed through the chilled air, "This feels creepy."

"Oh, man," Hunk frowned nervously as he passed a doorway, "Same. This place is scarier than anything I've seen so far."

Shiro had to agree. The whole place felt like it was a death trap. The older wouldn't have been surprised if ghosts appeared from nowhere. Another chill ran through the air.

"What's that smell?" Pidge asked as she knelt down to pick a lock on the nearest door, "I don't think I will like what it is."

Just as the door unlatched itself, Shiro got a whiff of whatever was inside. It smelt like something water-based had bloated and decomposed in hot temperatures. Shiro nearly gagged as he sealed his helmet shut, telling the others to do the same.

Inside was something even more disturbing than the druids' torture chambers. A long-since dead alien laid on a table in the center of the room. It looked kind of like a toad with a more humanistic build. Parts of its flesh were melting off like swollen rubber and Shiro could see a cheek bone under it all.

"I'm gonna be sick," Hunk whispered with a green face, "You don't think..."

"Let's hope not," Lance frowned as he checked the way back, "All clear."

"Let's get Keith and get out of here," Pidge typed on her hologram for a second, "He's down this way."

Shiro followed her as she turned down a few halls. This place was one big maze, worse than the Galra ships. There was no way to discern what was which room, so Shiro ran alongside the youngest, Hunk and Lance behind them.

"We'll stay back here," Lance spoke up as he ducked behind a pillar, and Hunk joined in, "We're no help if someone comes to us."

"Okay."

Finally they came upon a room. Pidge paused to open the doorway, almost smashing the door in her anger to get to Keith. When it finally opened, Shiro rushed in first, charging up his arm.

A scientist alien was just picking up a weird tool when Shiro burst into the room. One glance and the alien yelped in fear, nearly falling over.

"How...How did you get in here?" He asked while shaking, "You shouldn't be here."

"Step away from him," Shiro nearly growled as the alien stood there, "Now."

"How about you step away?" Another alien's voice greeted them and they spun around to said alien blocking the doorway, "We've been waiting for you, Champion."

Shiro froze. Only the Galra called him that. Only the prisoners knew him as that.

"Yes," the man all but purred happily as both Shiro and Pidge stumbled back-to-back, "See, we were originally after you, Champion. But our plans changed when we found out your little friend isn't fully human. He is quite the specimen. Mostly human but Galra inside through and through. He has given us a lot of useful information about the Galra."

"You're sick!" Pidge shouted as she glared at him, "Let us go! You'll regret it."

"Silly child," the man laughed as the scientist from earlier quickly cuffed them together, "You came just a bit too early. We are still experimenting."

Shiro couldn't activate his arm or it would burn through the youngest's side. The cuffs were too tight to wiggle out of. They weren't going anywhere unless the Blue and Yellow Paladins saved them.

The alien walked over to Keith. Now Shiro could see him better. As the room fell into silence, he could make out the raspy wheeze of Keith trying to breathe. Every breath sounded agonizingly wet with something. The slightly younger man was shivering weakly, sweat pooling under him on the table. His skin was way too pale, eyes too dull, and skin too dry to be healthy. In fact, he was wearing a thin white blanket over his body. Shiro could see cuffs on each of his hands and feet. Some other bands covered his hips, or at least, from what little he could see, it was. A collar of the same circled the younger's throat.

"You're just in time for the real show," the alien laughed as he took ahold of Keith's chin, pulling it tightly enough to lift the man's head, "Wake up, half-breed. You have visitors."

Keith blinked sluggishly as his eyes attempted to focus. Another shiver racked his form as the alien shoved his head towards them. Keith let out a choked cry as the other pinned his head down. A cough got out of Keith's throat before he dragged air into his lungs. Another few blinks, and glossy eyes widened when they met his.

"S-sh-i," Keith's voice died out as he coughed again. Luckily, he didn't cough long as the sadistic alien began his preparation. 

"What the fuck?" Pidge shouted as Shiro felt her tap on her wrist, probably trying to send the other two a message secretly, "Don't you touch him!"

"No human will tell me what to do," the man popped on some gloves on his three-fingered hands, "Besides, it'll benefit us later down the road. Now time to go back to the tests. Wouldn't want you to miss the show."

If Shiro wanted to gag when he saw the dead alien from earlier, he knew he wanted to be ill now. He felt a bit of vomit enter his mouth, which he promptly swallowed. His disgust turned to rage as he heard Pidge wasn't coping as well as he was.

The man had shifted the blanket over Keith's front, until it was down at his hips. The sight that greeted them was devastating. 

Keith’s skin was peeled back from his stomach to just below his throat. All his organs were out on display, functioning how they normally would. His ribs were folded back, out of the way of the rest of the display. Shiro felt faint as he saw Keith's heart beat and his lungs strain to inflate and deflate. He could hear Pidge crying silently by his side.

Keith had to be in so much pain right now.

"It's truly remarkable," the lead scientist ran his finger over Keith's lung softly, which caused the younger to momentarily stop breathing, "His organs function just like a Galra's. His lungs still work after almost all the air being cut off from them. His ribs were nearly impossible to break. His skin is tough and he has another set of razor sharp teeth above his own now. Don't even get me started on his muscles. White muscles, very good for speed, strength, and light-weight. About 65 percent white and the rest red."

The man laughed wickedly as Keith groaned quietly. The younger let out a choked sob as the monster's hand wandered down to his hip, rubbing circles into what was, no doubt, abused and battered skin. Keith tossed his head in jerky motions as he whimpered. Shiro almost broke right then and there when he saw the other moving his lips but creating no sound.

Keith was pleading, 'No. No. No. Not again! Please! No!'

And then the biting taste of electricity filled the air. Keith jerked upright but didn't get far as more electricity coursed through his veins. The bands on his wrists were obviously causing him lots of pain as was the one on his neck. But the band on his hips were doing the worst. Shiro could smell burnt flesh as the skin on the younger's waist was zapped until burns appeared. 

"STOP IT!" Pidge screamed as Keith let out a hoarse cry of pain. She frantically tapped her wrist now, "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Sadly," the man shook his head as he waved to someone, "The little paladin is correct. This body is not good with electrical currents. Such a down fall. I wonder if it is from the human or the Galra side."

The shocks died down and Keith dropped his head limply, too exhausted to even move it. Some blood dribbled from his nose as Shiro felt his anger soar. How could they...how dare they...touch his best friend. Spasms ran through Keith still, making him flinch every few seconds. More blood dripped onto the table top. Keith's face grew even more pale as he gasped laboriously, lungs still sounding wet.

"And his heart," the man moved towards the injured paladin's side before running a finger over Keith's beating heart. Keith didn't react much, already too sick and in too much pain. His arm jerked once with electricity still coursing his body, "His heart has survived much. It still goes on. Many of our other specimen perished before this. Their hearts just weren't enough."

"You're sick," the Green Paladin exclaimed, "Let us go you sick b-"

"We were just getting lower," the monster snickered as Shiro glared, scar pulling on his nose, "We don't yet know about his digestive or reproductive systems."

"And you never will," Lance shouted from the doorway. The assistant suddenly dropped and the leader snapped his attention to the door. Both Hunk and Lance stood there, guards outside knocked out on the floor. Shiro would have laughed if the time were better.

"Stay back!" The man grabbed up the closest knife, pressing it to Keith's throat. The younger blinked slowly before his dark hazy eyes dragged to the man's face. Shiro felt the cuffs on his hands fall off as Hunk let out a loud roar of rage.

"Get away from my friend!"

Obviously, the alien wasn't prepared for two-hundred pounds of enraged teen to hit him. The young man slammed into his side, not giving him a chance to even call out. The knife went flying with the man, not causing any harm to Keith. 

"And stay away from him," the Yellow Paladin screamed as he glared at the unconscious alien before he moved to Keith's side, "Oh, what did they do to you, man?"

Keith just dropped his head to the side as he opened his mouth weakly. Still nothing came out. His vocal cords were spent. Keith looked ready to cry at any time, no doubt the pain was catching up to him. 

"Get the bands off him," Shiro commanded as he gently tested the collar, and removed it without incident, "Let's get Keith back home and safe."

The others set about carefully removing the bonds holding Keith in place. Shiro felt tears gather in his eyes as he looked at his friend's mangled mess of a chest. The ribs would have to be folded back down. The skin was going to have to be put back into place and bandaged. Damn it...they weren't going anywhere yet. They needed a smooth stretcher to place Keith on. And the only person with that technology was back at the castle.

"Pidge-"

"Way ahead of you," she answered as she dialed the older Altean. Shiro ignored them for the sake of resting his hand over the severely wounded friend's forehead, peeling back soaked bangs. Keith responded by leaning toward the touch and relaxing just the slightest, eyes getting even more disturbingly foggy.

"I was hoping we won't have to do it," Shiro glanced back at Pidge who only stared down at Keith with tears racing down her face. She wiped at them, "Coran said that we need to get his ribs back in place as best as we can."

"Can't we give him something to stop the pain?" Lance asked as they all gazed at a trembling Keith, "Won't he go into shock or something?"

"If he hasn't yet," Shiro took a deep breath in before releasing it, "Then I don't think he will. Besides, we don't know what other drugs they may have given him. They could react badly to anything we use. Now, hold him while I put them back into place."

The youngest three nodded seriously as they gripped his appendages tightly. Shiro cringed as he took the first rib into hand. He wanted to be sick. This was worse than fighting to the death in the Arena. This would be a painful death, and Shiro thought he'd seen some sick things back in the Galra cells. Carefully bending it back into place, he almost jumped when he heard it snap back into place.

One out of twenty-four back in place. 

A tiny sound had Shiro pausing. He had only heard something similar once, when Keith had been deeply distressed back at the Garrison. Shiro had searched everywhere for the seventeen-year-old, only to find him in Shiro's room. He had been bundled beneath all of the available blankets in his apartment. Shiro hadn't noticed it right away, but after some time, he began to hear the younger making strange noises. It sounded a lot like weird chirping, the kind a scared and young baby cheetah would make to its mom.

That's exactly what he was hearing now. The small sounds were a lot like distressed grunts. When Shiro glanced at Keith, he didn't see anything to indicate he was the one making the sounds. But he knew deep down that he was.

He had to hurry.

He took up the next rib.

Snap.

Chirp.

Snap. Snap. 

Chirp.

Snap. Snap. Crack.

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Over and over it went like that until Shiro was sure he'd never get the sickening sound of breaking bones and his best friend's calls out of his head.

Even after he placed the ribs where they had to go, Shiro could hear the other calling out for someone with his quiet chirps. Shiro quickly brushed off his hands uncaringly on his armor before moving to Keith's side. 

"Hey, buddy," Shiro rubbed a thumb right under Keith's left eye, "Come on, Keith. You're safe. I got you. I'm here."

Keith went silent as Shiro ran his fingers through his ebony hair. His skin was clammy and cold, hair plastered to his skin. But he had to have a fever if the flush on his cheeks was anything to go by. He also looked dehydrated and starved, and Shiro knew the aliens hadn't cared to take care of Keith at all.

And they had thought the Galra were the only cruel ones.

"Move out of the way!" The familiar call from Coran had the older human looking up as he continued to stroke Keith's hair, "We must get Number Four to a pod right away!"

Shiro had to give the Altean credit. The man only stopped long enough for his eyes to widen at the sight of Keith before he started yelling out orders. They scrambled to obey them as they managed to lift Keith up onto the stretcher hovering nearby. Some of the locals helping them rushed in, making sure the rebels were secured in and couldn't get free. With that, they rushed back to the castle.


	2. The Infection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they are back at the castle, the team is free to get Keith into a pod. There are major complications though, as they find out just how sadistic the aliens had been.

By the time they got back to the castle's medical bay, Allura was already fixing up a pod to put Keith in. They quickly but carefully settled the hover stretcher near it as they got to work. Shiro was still holding his hand over the younger’s forehead as the others moved about.

"We need to scan him," Coran thrust a device into Pidge's hands as she nodded, "Make sure nothing unnatural is in there. The pods won't heal him if there is."

The orange-haired man turned to Hunk and Allura.

"Princess, configure the pod for a Galra-human mix. Hunk, help her out."

The two nodded seriously as they rushed to the pod. The oldest Altean twisted to Lance who stared with the utmost seriousness Shiro had ever seen him have, eyes glancing at Keith with worry in those dark blue orbs as he waited for an order.

"Grab a healing suit," the man gestured to a small closet space across the room, "We'll need to change Keith into it as soon as we get everything back into place and make sure there’s nothing in where it shouldn’t be."

The Cuban narrowed his eyes in determination before he raced off, looking for a suit Keith's size. Shiro waited for the man to tell him what to do, carefully gripping his injured best friend's clammy hand with the one not on Keith’s forehead. The older man glanced at him, expression softening a bit.

"Stay by his side, Shiro," Shiro opened his mouth to protest and say he could help, but Coran cut him off with a hand wave, "We've got this. Besides, I think the person Keith trusts most should be by his side. Just in case he wakes up."

Shiro knew he had a good idea. Swallowing, he agreed as he continued to hold onto Keith's limb. Keith could wake up in lots of pain and disoriented. Shiro wanted to help him, even if he was getting familiar pings off of this from his time with the Galra. Shiro remembered flashes of being tied up to a table, unable to move as the saw...they sawed his arm off.

Forcing himself to the present, he brushed Keith’s hair out of his face. Keith didn’t awaken at all as Shiro continued on, hearing the others in the background. Through the shuffling of medical equipment and the soft, rushed whispering, Shiro heard a choked gasp.

Glancing back at the others, he saw that they hadn't stopped with their preparations. No one looked like they had been thrown from what they were focused on. Dread pooled in his stomach as he gazed down at his best friend. Keith was too pale still, so white he was nearly translucent. He was limp, still unconscious. But now his mouth was open more as his breathing rattled more than before. Looking down, he could see the younger's chest moving quickly like he was hyperventilating, but he knew he couldn't have been.

"Coran!" Shiro screamed as the dread turned to fright, plunging through him like sharp ice, "Something's wrong!"

The older man was there by his side suddenly. Pointing at Keith's chest, Shiro waited anxiously as Coran observed. The older's eyes went wide before he cursed in some Altean words Shiro didn't understand. 

"We need to open him up," Coran frowned before he carefully peeled back Keith's skin on his chest. Keith didn't even flinch, still breathing weirdly, "Oh, my boy. We have to fix this."

Shiro glimpsed at Keith's lungs, staring right at where Keith's trachea branched out into his separate lungs. A thin red line was around the left lung, the spot a tiny bit bigger than the rest of the tissues. Shiro's gaze went down to Keith's right lung which was straining even more than the other. He felt sick as he saw the lower fourth of the lung was dark red instead of pink like the rest. Small bubbles of oozing liquid coated the affected area, making it smell terrible if Coran's wrinkled nose was anything to go by. Shiro's helmet was still on. 

"Coran, tell me that's not…" Pidge asked in the background as Shiro caught a glimpse of her. Even with her helmet on, he could see her pale face and wide eyes, "It's not, right? Coran!"

"It is," the older man sighed before he quickly grabbed the scanner from the Green Paladin. Shiro watched the big screen as the Altean run it from the top of Keith's lungs to the bottom. Right where the red line was, something metal was wedged into Keith's airway. Further down, something of the same thing was stuck inside Keith's right lung, "His lung is terribly infected. Whatever is in his lungs should not be there.”

“How do we get it out?” Hunk frowned as he stared at the moving organs with a queasy expression, “How did they even get it in there? Do I want to know? We don’t want to know, do we? Guys, we don’t, right?”

“Easiest assumption, they injected it in there through his lungs,” Coran inspected along Keith’s trachea with the scanner on a different setting, his tissues a bright blue with very little change except for the damaged parts. The Altean’s eyes darkened as he tried another setting, this time showing up bright red on the screen all along Keith’s throat, “Worst assumption…”

“They…” Allura went pale as did everyone else as Shiro’s mechanical hand gripped the table hard enough to crack the metal. Luckily, the arm didn’t power on as the older rested his flesh hand onto Keith’s cold cheek, “They made him breathe it down.”

“With how this is,” Pidge stared at the scans up on the screen, eyes watering thickly, “Keith...fuck them! Keith…”

“He was awake the whole time,” Lance spoke for her, looking sick as could be, “Quiznak. He was awake the entire time. This...that’s sick.”

“Worse than _them_,” Shiro stressed his words, anger swirling in his very soul, "At least the Galra knocked me out after they were done."

"A week," Hunk swallowed thickly as his face turned green, "A whole week. How is he alive?"

"He's stubborn like that," Shiro smiled fondly as he glanced down at his injured best friend who barely even twitched, "If Keith has it in mind to survive, he will."

"He did live in the desert by himself for a whole year," Pidge nodded as her golden eyes stared at the other unconscious man, "And we saw his home. It was barely functional."

"Yeah," Shiro snickered softly as he brushed his fingers through sweaty hair, "I always told him that. He didn't want to change it from what he remembered it being when he was a kid. Keith...he's good at surviving on nothing."

He left out what he truly meant. Keith was good at surviving on nothing because he had to. Keith never had much besides his dad who died when he was young, a mother who was never there, a strange dagger, and a whole lot of hurt. Scrapes and bruises were nothing new for the younger, and Keith fought to live. The first time his class had a sparring match, Keith had almost been too aggressive and too into the fight. Shiro had seen through the younger, understanding why he had went at it like he had. In real fights, you fought to live another day.

Shiro knew just what that was like.

“Okay,” Hunk nodded as he gazed at Keith sadly, “But how...how do we get those things out?”

“We’re going to have to remove them from his lungs after we work on everything else,” Coran scowled as he stared at a different spot on the scanner, “It looks like he may have more problems.” 

Shiro frowned as he looked at the scan. Little metal pieces were showing up on random spots on Keith, symmetrical in placement. One pair was up by his shoulders, midchest, hips, knees, and ankles. They looked like they were injected into his skin. Shiro watched as Coran paled.

“Coran,” Allura frowned at the older who didn’t respond, “Coran! You’re scaring us. What’s wrong?”

“What...what are those?” Lance asked as he pointed at them. The older Altean sighed softly before he glanced at them all.

“They’re electrical prods,” he glared at the screen with more hatred than Shiro had seen him ever have, “Once placed, they helped take in the electric shock and-”

“Amplify it,” Pidge gasped in horror as her eyes roamed over all of the scanned prods, “Fuck, Coran! How did he survive that? That much of a charge would kill anyone.”

“Wait,” Lance stopped them while waving his hands, “Hold on. How much electricity are we talking about here?”

“Remember when you walked into the maze wall when we began training?” Pidge asked as Lance raised an unimpressed brow, “It was like that but if each time you got zapped, the strength went up. The collar and bracelets locked onto Keith must have been what sent the electricity and the prods held some of the charge and released part of it for a more intense shock. How did he live?”

“I suspect,” Coran ran another scan, pulling what seemed to be a chart of two hearts. One was clearly a human or Altean heart in blue and the other someone else’s in red, “The heart in blue is what I’ve scanned from you, Shiro, when you were in the pod last time. The one in red is a typical Galra heart which is much thicker and stronger.”

“And there are extra chambers,” Pidge exclaimed as she tapped on the screen, pulling up the heart which did have two extra chambers, “Human hearts only have four for oxygen and blood cells. What are the extra ones for in a Galra?”

“It helps sort the blood cells faster and insulate the heart from any damage,” Coran responded as he typed away, “The Galra hold lots of oxygen in their blood cells and this helps them with a lot of things.”

“Then...what about Keith?” Pidge asked as she glanced at the oldest Altean who swiped the screen. A purple heart showed up, a clear copy of the Galra one but not quite as thick.

“His is more Galran in nature,” Coran pointed at each individual chamber, “Six chambers like a normal Galra heart.”

“How did we miss this!” Hunk shouted as they all jumped, glancing back at the other who waved his hands around in frustration, “Come on, guys! Why haven’t we even thought that Keith has different biologic needs than ours! We teased him about turning Galra, but he’s been Galra this whole time!”

“You’re right!” Pidge nodded before she too turned to all of them, “Keith has human hardware and Galra software! How did we not notice? How did we not stop to think for a _second_ that Keith wasn’t fully human throughout? How the hell did he not get found out on Earth? It’s not exactly normal for someone to have these.”

“We didn’t,” Shiro sighed before he glanced at his best friend, “And Keith never really went to a doctor. His dad must have known that he would show up if he did. We’ll fix it. We’ll figure out everything we’ve been doing wrong and find out what we can do better. But first, we have to heal him. This infection is our number one priority.”

“You’re right, Number One,” Coran nodded as he glimpsed at the scans, “Okay. First, we have to remove the prods. Since he is unconscious, we can just pull them out right now.”

Shiro watched as the others each pulled out a set of prods. He kept his hands to Keith’s face, making sure to pay attention if the younger showed any signs of waking up. For a moment, Shiro was worried the metal wouldn’t leave Keith’s flesh as Hunk’s caught. But the others each pulled away their pair without too much trouble. Shiro frowned as he saw the Lichtenberg figures burned into the spots where Keith had been electrocuted. Some were fairly big like the one that carved around his throat from the collar. Each streak was a darker color, almost a dark purple color like a deep bruise. Those would undoubtedly scar.

“Now we can remove the blockages in his lungs,” Coran quickly grabbed a weird machine thing from the corner of the room before rejoining them, “Now, we’ll need to get him into the pod as soon as I am finished because I will be cutting a hole into his airway. Luckily, the cryopod does help heal these damaged tissues on the inside, so he’ll be okay if we get him in.”

“But what about drugs?” Pidge asked curiously, “They probably used something.”

“The pods will flush it out of his system,” Coran explained as he grabbed up the small device he was going to use to cut into Keith’s flesh, “Let’s get this over with. Everyone ready?”

They all nodded. The older man pressed the thin blade to Keith’s left trachea, slicing a line right over the irritated red one. Gently, he reached into the cut before carefully pulling out a small thing that same color that the collar and bracelets had been. Even as the man sat it in a dish, Shiro could see the small hole in the middle shift like what a pupil did in someone’s eye. Shivering at the device, he waited as the older did the same to the lower right side of Keith's lung.

"Whatever is in the poor boy's body seems to still be in there," the orange-haired man cut a larger slit into the organ which didn't start bleeding. Glancing at Keith's face, Shiro noticed that the younger didn't seem to have problems from the cuts in his lungs. His breathing was just as wet as before, but it seemed a little more steady now, "I'll have to open up the whole lung."

And he did, cutting through the tissues. When it was a few inches wide, he slowly pushed it apart. The flesh inside was disgusting and very reminiscent of the prisoners Shiro had seen who had developed gangrene in the Galra cells. Yellow liquidy puss bubbled up to the surface as Coran grabbed a small pair of tweezers to pull out the tiny device. With a wet squishy sound, the dark thing fell out onto the dish, covered in slick and disturbing amounts of infected flesh.

"I'm going to be sick," Hunk turned away before pressing his hand to his helmet, "Oh god that's gross…"

"It's going to be even grosser if he does not get into the pod," Allura frowned before she grabbed ahold of the younger’s left shoulder, “Let’s get him into the pod.”

“Wise decision, princess,” Coran nodded before he too moved to help the younger Altean. Shiro also helped out, pushing his best friend up so they could fit him into the medical suit and then the pod. As soon as they got the younger half-Galra’s chest back together, they rested him into the pod, which closed softly, “I will run some scans while he is healing. I think it would be a good idea to start understanding about Keith’s body as soon as we can. The pods will be able to detect things we can’t see ourselves!”

“And in the meantime,” Allura glanced at them with understanding eyes, “You should all get changed. Grab some food and water, go get a nap, or come back in here. He’ll be okay.”

Shiro was reluctant to go. This was his closest friend. But she was right. They needed to get their sweaty, blood-crusted armor off and go recharge. They couldn’t run themselves down, especially not when one of them was this injured.

“How long will he be in there?” Pidge asked quietly as they all glanced at the pod. Shiro rested his flesh hand to the glass.

“It’s difficult to say,” Coran rubbed his chin before messing with something, “He could be in there at least a few...days? As you humans say.”

“Okay,” Shiro nodded as he pressed his hand to the smallest paladin’s shoulder. She glanced up at him with worry on her face, “We’ll go get changed. And then we can camp out here to make sure Keith has someone here when he wakes.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed before he rushed away.

“I’ll make some snacks to hold us over,” Hunk responded just as quickly, disappearing too.

Pidge made her exit without saying a word.

And Shiro followed shortly after with a glance back at Keith.


End file.
